My name is Song Shunli, 44 years old this year. I’m from Huinan, Jilin Province. My mother’s name is Ma Shiyan. She was born in 1953 and worked in a county industrial and commercial company.
When my mother was young, she was an energetic self-motivated employee who often worked overtime. That’s why she was awarded advanced worker many times, but it took a toll on her health that she suffered from high blood pressure and heart disease when she grew old. Although she took medicines on a regular basis for it, her weakened body affected her work. Her unyielding spirit made her want to get a grip on her health so that she could dedicate to her work again. In May 1998, my mother with a strong desire for fitness started to practice Falun Gong under the persuasion of her colleague Mrs. Zhu.
After spending a period of time practicing Falun Gong and sitting in meditation, my mother never felt so good like it in years and her mental status was also much better than before. (Later, I learned that it’s the result of the dual effect of both physical exercise and psychological hint) From then on, my mother was convinced that Falun Gong was a marvelous exercise which was way better than taking medicines and injections, and she started to admire “Master” Li Hongzhi, the founder of the Falun Gong cult, from the bottom of her heart and have an implicit faith in him. She kept reading the book Zhuan Falun(Turn the Dharma wheel), the Falun Gong cult bible, over and over again and believe it to the extent of blind obedience, refusing to take medicines or injections.
In July 1999, Falun Gong was banned by the state in accordance with the law and Li Hongzhi was wanted by the police. My mother was too obsessed with Falun Gong to accept it. In her opinion, “Master” Li Hongzhi is the magic doctor, the book Zhuan Falun (Turn the Dharma wheel) is the miracle medicine. Therefore, she wondered what was wrong with such a wonderful doctor and medicine.
Because my mother felt unconvinced and wronged, she took a long sick leave and never went back to work again. In July 2000, responding to the call of the “Master” Li Hongzhi that followers should go out and protect the Dharma, my mother took a train to Beijing to take part in illegal demonstrations and distributed Falun Gong propaganda materials with others when she got back home, which broke national laws and incurred the punishment of the law upon her accordingly.
After practicing the Falun Gong, my mother started to confine herself only to the small circle of Falun Gong practitioners, and refused to make contacts with other people to the extent that she was even reluctant to speak with her family members. She kept herself busy all day long by doing nothing but practicing Falun Gong, either at home or outside. Sometimes, when she stayed up late at night, she would practice sitting in meditation in the living room instead of her bedroom with lights off because she felt her bedroom was too hot, and at the same time, she would mutter words indistinguishable, which was so scary that my wife often got spooked when getting up during the night to go to the bathroom.
Considering my mother’s physical condition, my wife and I persuaded her a lot to take good care of herself by practicing moderately instead of doing it day and night, especially for the elderly at her age. My mother wouldn’t care about what I said if I put it mildly, but when I said it harshly, she would be so angry that she would talk back to me with nasty words, claiming that we are damned as we’re demons trying to stop her from practicing. Although I was quite upset by what she said and did, I couldn’t take it seriously because she was confused and unable to think straight. What I cared the most was always my mother’s health.
One Sunday in the summer of 2004, my mother felt dizzy all of sudden while she was practicing and then collapsed onto the ground with symptoms of shortness of breath and sweating. I carried her and ran downstairs frantically. My wife and I hailed a taxi right away and took my mother to the nearest hospital.
After examination, the doctor told us that my mother was a typical hypertension patient with 170/120 mmHg, and also suffered from serious arrhythmia, and warned us that my mother should pay extra attention to the hypertension problem otherwise it would turn into a fatal issue. My mother stayed in hospital for only a few days under our close watch before she became so anxious to leave hospital, saying that she betrayed his master’s trust by going to hospital to take medicines and injections, and that her level was going down a lot as well, which were all sins.
Few days after getting back home, urged on by other Falun Gong practitioners that she knew, my mother strongly refused to take any medicine again. She even packed all her medicines and secretly chucked them away into a sewer in the distance from home.
Because of not taking medicines, soon my mother started to suffer from the hypertension again, and complained about headaches and weakness in strength. One day, on her way home, she was so dizzy and nauseous that she almost fell down onto the ground at the beginning of stairs. Finally, my mother managed to move to the fourth floor step by step with one hand holding Mrs. Luo and another holding stair railings.
When we learned about it, we wanted to take my mother to the hospital for further examinations, but my mother refused our request with a shake of her head and said firmly, ‘It’s not necessary, and nothing bad will happen to me because I’m under the protection of the Dharma body of my Falun Gong Master. This is the critical moment for me to stand the test given by my “Master”. I failed last time, and this is my second chance. I won’t make the same mistake by going to hospital to fail this time’
On May 21, 2010, after breakfast, my mother practiced Falun Gong with other practitioners at home. When my wife and I got home at around 10 a.m., we were shocked to find that my mother lying onto the ground, pale and unconscious, with 5 or 6 practitioners around her chanting to “Send Forth Righteous Thoughts”: “The Fa rectifies the Cosmos; the Evil is completely eliminated”, “the Fa rectifies Heaven and Earth; immediate retribution in this lifetime.” One of them told me what they were doing was to cast spells to rescue my mother. Hearing that, I raced my mother to a hospital without any delay but it was too late, and my mother died of myocardial infarction caused by hypertension.
Another Mother's Day is coming, but my mother has already left us for 11 years…
